Romney has moved far to the right on abortion, gay rights, gun control, and other non-economic domestic issues since turning his attention to winning Republican primaries, beginning around 2004.

But many observers assume that, whatever his personal opinions on those matters, he doesn't particularly care deeply about them. No Apology barely touched on those topics.

That doesn't mean he'll do nothing in those areas, however. More likely, he will designate them to others within the administration — people who do care a great deal, and will push forward aggressively.

Their likely first target will be policies that affect how gay and transgender people are treated within the vast federal government itself.

Obama has made considerable gains, in protecting federal employees from discrimination and retaliation, and ensuring that government agencies don't discriminate toward those receiving services. That's a sharp turn from the previous administration, whose Office of Special Counsel was dubbed by the Phoenix "Bush's House Homophobe."

But the most important effect will be in the courts. Romney will inherit a large number of judicial vacancies, and is likely to let some of his most ideological advisors — people like Jay Sekulow and Mark DeMoss — select nominees for him.

By next summer, some of those far-right judges will be hearing cases in federal courts around the country.

Of all the changes listed here, that may be the most far-reaching of all. Those judges will keep remaking the country in Romney's image for years — long after he leaves the White House.

Anyone but Mitt Political leaders don't always rally around the front-runner for their party's presidential nomination, but they normally at least offer deference and respect. That doesn't, however, seem to be the case with Mitt Romney.

QUIZ: Candidate or Criminal? Of the 16 passages printed below, half were written or spoken by a 2012 Republican candidate for president. The other half were written by incarcerated criminals. Can you tell the difference?

The Year Ahead in Mitt Here's a quick look at some key dates for Romney, and what you might want to keep an eye on when his face pops up on your TV screen. Remember, there's a lot at stake: if he wins, you get at least four more years of Mitt-watching.

MRS. WARREN GOES TO WASHINGTON | March 21, 2013 Elizabeth Warren was the only senator on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, aside from the chair and ranking minority, to show up at last Thursday's hearing on indexing the minimum wage to inflation.

MARCH MADNESS | March 12, 2013 It's no surprise that the coming weekend's Saint Patrick's Day celebrations have become politically charged, given the extraordinary convergence of electoral events visiting South Boston.

LABOR'S LOVE LOST | March 08, 2013 Steve Lynch is winning back much of the union support that left him in 2009.

AFTER MARKEY, GET SET, GO | February 20, 2013 It's a matter of political decorum: when an officeholder is running for higher office, you wait until the election has been won before publicly coveting the resulting vacancy.